Announcements

MAPOR Council Public Meeting Minutes – June 2020

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MAPOR EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MONTHLY MEETING AGENDA

June 15th, 2020

12:30 – 2:00 CST/1:30 pm – 3:00pm EST

Zoom invite

MAPOR MOMENT of the MONTH:  Our MAPOR Moment of the Month recognizes council for participating in the VAPOR event last week, and providing the best trivia questions!  

Attendees: Ned, Lindsay, Mary, Leah, Ipek, David, Allison, Patrick, Evgenia, Justine, Edward, Kevin, Sara, Stephanie

Agenda:

  1. Approve May minutes           (Ned)

Minutes approved

  1. President’s Update     (Ned)
    1. MAPOR at AAPOR 
    2. Planning for bigger meeting (was at NORC last year)
    3. Input on nominations for fellows and executive council

All-chapter party went pretty well. Each chapter gave a 1-minute presentation, then chapter trivia game. Seems like we could replicate this for our own virtual conference.

Usually we have a larger in-person meeting in the fall to plan the conference. Even if we can’t be in-person, should we plan on a longer Exec Council meeting in September to help with planning? One question is the timing of the call for abstracts – extend a bit? If so, have longer meeting in late September…

 Note that we need to start thinking about nominations for fellows and exec council. Ned provided link to master spreadsheet – add to it if you have ideas. 

  1. 2020 Conference                          (Sara/David)
    1. Latest update on remote conversion and software
    2. Call for Conference Participation and Student Paper Competition Announcements
    3. Student Paper Competition Award Updates
    4. Abstract management programming and review updates
  1. Moderator role; Networking lunch; Book raffle
  2. Outreach to specific institutions

Conference committee met last week. 1) Will schedule a call with anyone on Exec Council who attended the AAPOR conference, to collect impressions on software (Cadmium) and format. 2) Leah has reached out to several other vendors (Subversive, Prestige, 4th Floor Creative). Prestige seems like it could be a good option and they can schedule another demo of others want to check them out. Meet with 4th Floor Creative tomorrow to explore options and pricing. Prestige and Cadmium have similar prices. Discussion of whether to record all presentations or to also incorporate some live interaction. Seems like recording is better for the presentations – removed connectivity issues and requires less “moderation”. We need to think about the “chat” feature and be clear on how to use it, etc. And, if pre-recorded, what is the value of grouping into “sessions”? 3) Launch call for participation late June – will keep it similar to prior years, just remind people of virtual considerations (may need to pre-record, post earlier than conference dates, etc.). 4) Looking at conference theme, add panel on Why Representation Matters in Research… women, people of color, LGBTQ, etc. Sara is asking for input and suggestions on panel members. 5) Student paper competition will be announced at same time as call for participation – need to review language to address virtual format. How many awards? Let’s wait and see how many papers are received. 

  1. Treasurer’s Report                           (Kevin)
    1. Budget Updates
    2. Impact of conference switch

Checking: $35,946.36

Savings: $45,024.65

We believe costs for a virtual conference will be low, although calculating whether we can break even will depend on a few variables.

  1. Sponsorship: If we can maintain a fair percentage of our sponsors, we will be able to tolerate high conference costs and still break even. However, given the financial situation of universities and organizations at the moment, we expect that sponsorship will decrease this year.
  2. Attendees and Membership: We expect that attendance to the conference will be lower than previous years.  This may have an adverse effect on membership, as I assume a lot of folks will not renew their membership unless they attend the conference. If we keep costs low, perhaps we can increase attendance??
  3. Software costs: This is still unknown, although costs reported from AAPOR were about $15k for their virtual conference. This is a tolerable amount for us, and we should be able to get a rate that is well below that as we will have a much smaller conference than AAPOR.

Also, keep in mind that our finances are very strong. We intended to spend up to ~$8k this year on travel awards which we will not need to spend this year. Overall, we could absorb a big hit for the conference (~10-20k) and still be strong financially.  

  1. Communications                     (Justine)
    1. Newsletters for 2020: May/June (Spring), (October)  Fall
    2. What other communications in spring on our news, including social media postings?

Usually spring newsletter goes out right before AAPOR. Justine will finish the draft and send it around for review. Will include survey results, etc. Will try to include some concrete info on virtual conference. Think about timing with call for abstracts.

  1. Webinars            (Patrick)
    1. Fall:  AAPOR short course or other presenters?

Nothing is set yet. Considering October date for webinar, so have a little time to finalize plans. Something on COVID-19? Could we merge with virtual conference?

  1. Summer/Fall 2020 Mixer           (Evgenia/Lindsay)
    1. Should we try a Zoom happy hour?

Something to consider for fall. We may be able to have an actual happy hour, depending on situation.  

  1. Past President                 (Ipek)
    1. Student award subcommittee 

With virtual format, need to re-think these awards and how they’re structured. For next year (2021), think about travel awards and maybe also diversity awards. Idea of “fellowship” award that matches students with mentors, they work together on a project. Evgenia will draft a timeline for consideration.

  1. Sponsorship       (Allison/Mary)

Would be helpful to know more about the format of the conference, before we draft our “ask” for sponsorship. Hard to know how many universities will be constrained by spending freezes.  Edward offered to join the Sponsorship team.

  1. Website              (Ashley/Patrick)                        

Nothing new to report.

  1. Other business?            

Ideas to help students: speed networking, webinar to help with preparing CV or preparing for interviews, etc. 

Next Meeting: July 20th 2020 at 12:30 CST

Committee Composition: 

  1. Conference (Sara, Dana, David, Leah)
  2. Sponsorship (Allison, Mary)
  3. Webinar (Patrick, Lindsay)
  4. Website (Ashley, Patrick)
  5. Student Award (Ipek, Ned, Kevin, Dana, Evgenia)

GO MAPOR GO!

MAPOR Council Public Meeting Minutes – May 2020

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MAPOR EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MONTHLY MEETING AGENDA

May 18th, 2020

12:30 – 2:00 CST/1:30 pm – 3:00pm EST

Zoom invite

MAPOR MOMENT of the MONTH:  Our MAPOR Moment of the Month is to recognize Sara, David, Dana, Patrick, and Leah for their work starting to adapt our 2020 conference to a remote platform.  This will be our largest undertaking of 2020 and they have gotten off to a great start thus far.

Attendees: Ned, Patrick, Evgenia, Kevin, Ipek, Lindsey, David, Mary, Edward, Leah, Dana, Allison, Stephanie

Agenda:

  1. Approve April minutes           (Ned)

Approved.

  1. Presidents Update     (Ned)
    1. MAPOR at AAPOR- likely Zoom Chapter event 6/10 at 5:00 or 6:00 EST
      1. MAPOR Zoom backgrounds? 
    2. Good news from hotel (Amada)    

Hotel is not imposing any penalty for canceling 2020 conference – good news! 

Ned received info on the AAPOR chapter events, he will follow up. There will be some sort of interactive activity, based on chapter teams. We should put some effort into publicizing event. June 10, 7:00p eastern.

  1. 2020 Conference                          (Sara/David)
    1. Latest update on remote conversion
      1. Messaging for members
    2. Call for Conference Participation and Student Paper Competition Announcements
    3. Student Paper Competition Award Updates
    4. Abstract management programming and review updates
  2. Moderator role; Networking lunch; Book raffle

We want to use a vendor/contractor for providing virtual conference tools. Talking with JSM and AAPOR to learn from their experiences (Ipek will start an exchange with AAPOR/Delia). Trying to keep this more “dynamic” than a long webinar… How to integrate speed networking? How to simulate “coffee breaks”? 

Sara drafted message to membership announcing virtual conference. Should we include specific dates? Does it make sense to keep the Friday/Saturday schedule? We should keep it reasonable and determine capacity, then craft call for participation based on that capacity. Important to have ability to record (or, pre-record) sessions – at least keynote and pedagogy sessions. 

Need to keep in mind University spending restrictions. Members may not be able to charge even a lower registration fee. We should make decisions that assume small amount of revenue coming in. And assume “transient” attendance at sessions. 

Next steps: 1) we need to get a sense of costs associated with conferencing tools, then develop a few budget options; 2) send message announcing virtual conference ASAP – and, how do we quickly gauge interest in joining the virtual conference?; 3) in June, send call for participation, which should include a cost estimate for participants; 4) finalize plan for fellowships, to match students with mentors – to increase interaction around conference

  1. Treasurer’s Report                           (Kevin)
    1. Budget Updates
      1. Potential remote conference impact

Checking: $37,085.76

Savings: $45,024.30

Doris Graber gift will be earmarked for Annual Student Paper award.

MAPOR finances continue to be very strong. Over the past 5 years we have averaged an annual surplus of ~$6,500. Prior to COVID-19, we planned to spend an additional ~$8,000 this year towards student awards and travel grants. Initial projections estimated that we could absorb these costs for several years. Due to COVID, Kevin ran projections for dropping the conference this year. The bottom line is that the overwhelming majority of our costs are driven by the conference. He estimated conservative projections for revenues – membership (50% reduction), sponsorship (50% reduction), webinars (100% reduction) and conservative projections for costs. Under these assumptions, MAPOR would generate a small surplus for the year ~$1,200.  If we lose all sponsorship for the year, we would run a deficit of ~$4,500.  If we lose ALL revenue for 2020, essentially not collecting any membership fees for 2020, we would run a deficit of ~$7,000. Even the worst case scenario is tolerable over the long term and does not threaten the financial security of the organization.

Virtual Conference.

CVENT can host virtual events but the software is not a conference hosting platform. They need to be integrated with another software to host the event.

CadmiumCD – This is the software that will be used by AAPOR for this year’s annual conference. Kevin reached out to them to schedule a demo and discuss this as a software to host our conference. One benefit of using the software would be that those who register and use it for AAPOR would be familiar with the platform. In addition, we would be able to obtain insight and experience from those who are hosting the AAPOR conference. Potential costs are unknown at this point. Kevin assumes the estimate of cost would be based on the products we would select and use.

  1. Webinars            (Patrick)
    1. Fall:  AAPOR short course or other presenters?

Nothing new to report. Depending on how virtual conference comes together, perhaps skip the fall webinar. Still plan to “scout” from AAPOR. According to our survey, many members are interested in “survey methods” as a webinar topic. 

  1. Communications                     (Justine)
    1. Newsletters for 2020: May (Spring), (October)  Fall
    2. What other communications in spring on our news, including social media postings?

Wait until next month to publish “spring” newsletter, when we have details of conference further along.

  1. Summer/Fall 2020 Mixer           (Evgenia/Lindsay)
    1. Should we try a Zoom happy hour?

Let’s see how AAPOR goes…  One idea is to identify a smaller group, like students, to have a virtual happy hour/meeting. Use something like “hangouts”, or breakout rooms, to connect in smaller settings.

  1. Past President                 (Ipek)
    1. Student award subcommittee 

Nothing new to report.

  1. Sponsorship       (Allison/Mary)

On hold until we know a bit more about our conference format. And, keeping in mind university spending restrictions. Think about how we can leverage new “on-line” format to highlight sponsors.

  1. Website              (Ashley/Patrick)                        

Nothing new to report.

  1. Other business?            

Evgenia finished analysis from member survey. How to disseminate results? Include summary stats in spring/summer newsletter, highlighting what’s the same, what changed, etc. 

Next Meeting: June 15th 2020 at 12:30 CST

Committee Composition: 

  1. Conference (Sara, Dana, David, Leah)
  2. Sponsorship (Allison, Mary)
  3. Webinar (Patrick, Lindsay)
  4. Website (Ashley, Patrick)
  5. Student Award (Ipek, Ned, Kevin, Dana, Evgenia)

GO MAPOR GO!

Candidates for Office – 2021

Patrick Hsieh

We are pleased to present the candidates for 2021-2022 MAPOR Executive Council, shown in alphabetical order by position as follows (click each name for the candidate’s biography): 

Vice President/President Elect       

Justine Bulgar-Medina

David Sterrett

Associate Conference Chair  

Y. Patrick Hsieh

Benjamin Schapiro

Associate Secretary-Treasurer

Lindsey Witt-Swanson

As per Article IV: Section 2 of our bylaws “any group of at least twenty-five (25) members entitled to vote at any annual or special meeting of the members may nominate another candidate or candidates for office by so notifying in writing the President within twenty (20) days after the delivery, mailing or e-mailing of such names.” Please note that any candidate must be current AAPOR and MAPOR members and you should check that they are willing to serve. The deadline for adding candidates to the ballot is October 12, 2021.

The election will take place from October 29 – November 9, 2021. 

Hillary Hanson – Candidate for Associate Conference Chair

Patrick Hsieh

Hillary Hanson is the Assistant Director of the University of Chicago Survey Lab. She started her survey research career at the Survey Lab in 2011 as a project coordinator and currently specializes in web surveys and in planning, staffing, training, and monitoring progress for field studies. She especially enjoys the opportunity to train students in data collection methods and to introduce them to the field of survey research. Hillary has been a member of MAPOR since 2011 and appreciates the approachable nature of the conference and the opportunity to learn from other attendees who do similar work. She also regularly attends and presents at the International Field Directors and Technologies Conference (IFD&TC). Hillary received her BS in psychology from Iowa State University and completed the Master of Arts Program in the Social Sciences at the University of Chicago.

Leah Dean – Candidate for Associate Conference Chair

Patrick Hsieh

Leah Dean is a survey scientist in the Survey Research Division at RTI International. Her expertise is in health surveys and health policy. She has served on the MAPOR Council and as a member of the MAPOR Conference Committee since 2020. She also serves as a member of AAPOR’s Transparency Initiative Committee. Leah earned her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Cincinnati, where she worked at the Institute for Policy Research prior to joining RTI International. She is also a member of the board of directors for the Red River Gorge Climber’s Coalition, a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and conservation in the Red River Gorge region of Kentucky. Leah serves as secretary to the organization and assists in the planning and execution of their major fundraiser.

Kevin Ulrich – for Vice President/President-Elect

Patrick Hsieh

Kevin Ulrich is the Director of the University of Chicago Survey Lab. In this role he plans, implements, and oversees data collection and consulting services for academic and non-profit organizations. His expertise includes developing and applying strategies to efficiently maximize recruitment and retention of survey participants. Kevin regularly develops and conducts training on survey methodology and data collection procedures with research assistants and staff. Kevin previously managed the Survey Research Program at Group Health Research Institute (now the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute). In that role, he oversaw and managed data collection for all survey-related studies and provided methodological consultation to the Institute’s faculty and their collaborators. 

Kevin has been an AAPOR and MAPOR member since 2006. He joined the MAPOR Executive Council in 2015 and served as the webinar coordinator in 2015 and 2016. He was the Associate Secretary Treasurer in 2017 and 2018 and has been the Secretary Treasurer since 2019. In 2019, Kevin led the group that developed MAPOR’s Operational Reserve Policy. Kevin was a member of AAPOR’s online education subcommittee from 2016-2020. He has also served on the Executive Council of the Association of Academic Survey Research Organizations (AASRO). Kevin holds a BA and MA in social science from the University of Chicago. He is a US Navy veteran.

Kevin has significantly benefitted both professionally and personally from being a MAPOR member and is eager to continue his MAPOR service and colleagueship as Vice President/President-Elect.

Bob Davis – for Vice President/President-Elect

Patrick Hsieh

Bob Davis is the president and second generation owner of the public opinion research company Davis Research.  Bob has served on the board of PAPOR for 10 years, including the 3 year president track, membership chair and councilor at large in charge of education.  Bob is an engaged member of the AAPOR membership family including heading up AAPOR’s Task force on TCPA.  A lot has changed in research since his first job in the early 1970’s where his mom paid him $0.25 an hour to tape quarters to mail surveys.  He looks forward to learning from MAPOR and sharing his learning from his years on PAPOR’s council.

2020 Annual Conference

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Why Representation Matters

November 20-21, 2020

Conference Chair: Sara Walsh, NORC at the University of Chicago

Associate Conference Chair: David Sterrett, NORC at the University of Chicago

Our conference theme asks the MAPOR community to consider why representation matters in the work we do everyday. Why do we value representation and why do we strive to achieve it in our polls, our study samples, and in our research design? Where does representation factor into our interviewing and research teams? Why do we place a premium on representative data? We think about representation continually in our daily work and for our conference, let’s gather together and center our discussion on Why Representation Matters. Our conference will feature many interesting sessions on all facets of research related to public opinion, communication, survey research, and their methodologies. We are looking forward to seeing you in November at the conference!

–Sara Walsh, 2020 MAPOR Conference Chair

Click here to view the Final Conference Program!

Information about our past conferences can be found here.